Protests continue following Nieto's presidential victory

July 23, 2012

There has been a great deal of unrest among Mexican citizens following the recent presidential elections and these feelings of unease erupted into protest in Mexico City over the weekend. According to Reuters, the latest protest against Enrique Pena Nieto's election victory saw thousands of people marching through the streets of the nation's capital. The Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) has fallen under fire after accusations by Nieto's rival in the presidential race, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, pointed a finger at the methods the party used to garner votes.

"The people have woken up. The people realize that the PRI violated the elections," 25-year-old Luiz Martinez, an engineering student from Mexico City who attended the protest, told the news source.

Lopez Obrador is claiming the PRI bought votes and laundered money in their presidential campaign to secure the victor for Nieto. He has also filed a complaint, stating that the PRI also paid for the support of the media, the AFP reports. The elected leader won the vote with 38.2 percent, while Lopez Obrador received 31.6 percent - a narrow victory for Nieto. Half of the polling station results were recounted to arrive at these results.

The news publication indicates Lopez Obrador also ran for president in 2006, a race in which he lost by less than 1 percent of the votes. Following this election, the political candidate also accused his rival, Felipe Calderon, of fraud. His accusations led to protests not unlike those going on currently, and Nieto and his party are denying all of Lopez Obrador's claims.